THE WORLD APART
by percyjackson4ever
Summary: Almost a year after the Titan War, Percy's questing day are still far from over.   The next Great Prophey must be completed at all costs – or may the Gods and the entire world be destroyed…
1. A God's betrayal

**A god's betrayal**

The most disgraceful night of any demi-god child started with a rat attack in a pitch dark prison cell. I know what you're thinking, wow, this is so cliché, prison and rats, why don't you toss a couple of skulls in there too? But before you start badmouthing the author or trashing the publisher, hear me out, listen to my story.

Now, where were we? Ah, right, rats. My night in prison is beyond description of the English language. It was really more confusing than terrifying. After almost 5 years of monster hunting and Titan wars, a few furry creatures in corner are nothing to me. I've been in countless of battles before but being snatched away from Camp without a fight is definitely new to me. Who could have the skills to break into camp, kidnap a half-blood and escape without commotion? What angers me even more is the fact that I wasn't able to defend myself and save my own demi-god bottom. Heck, I wasn't even awake when I was taken from Camp Half-Blood, the safest monster-free zone aside from Olympus itself.

My only comfort in this gods-forbid place was Anaklusmos, my celestial bronze sword, or as I like to call it: Riptide. My abductor no doubt tried to attain my magic weapon from me, but thank the gods, Anaklusmos will always appear in my pocket no matter where I go. The night could have been more bearable if my capturer wasn't so cheap and placed a couple of candles here and there. I gotta admit, if Annabeth was here, she would definitely do something more useful than stabbing the wall with a blade and hating myself for not believing in a watch. For all these years, I have grown used to Annabeth's strategic help in battle. It feels kinda awkward not having someone watch your back, especially when you have no idea who you're facing.

After several unsuccessful attempts of escape, my only option was to sleep and bid my time. I had an unpleasant feeling that later on, I would need all the energy I can get to keep my ADHD brain going. Chiron's last advice ran through my head. "Get some sleep Percy. You may be invulnerable in combat, but that only makes your body tire faster. I remember Achilles. Whenever that lad wasn't fighting, he was sleeping. He must've taken twenty naps a day. You, Percy, need your rest. You may be our only hope."

Chiron's words ran through my mind like ice. For an immortal demi-god child of Poseidon who took a dig in the Styx, I'm still pretty slow. "Immortals are constrained by ancient rules. But a hero can go anywhere; challenge anyone, as long as he has the nerves." Only a god or camper could give permission for an intruder to enter camp. After all my friends and I have been through, I seriously doubt that any camper would have the heart to sell me out. An avenging god? Not likely unless he's got a hero acting under his name. Oh my gods imagine the possibility of my own family turning on me- very likely. Although I saved the Olympians from ultimate doom, a couple of Titans wouldn't mind the opportunity to rip my throat out. It's pretty ironic being related to the gods, huh? I guess we're just one big happy family.

Sleep didn't come easy. Despite the fact that rats were attacking the leg of my jeans, I was worried sick about camp. Three years ago, Luke (the hero I once admired) traveled through Daedalus' labyrinth and attacked camp with his full scale army. We could've lost everything if it wasn't for Briares, the Hundred-Handed One. The thought of losing Camp, (one if the few places I haven't yet been kicked out of) is unbearable.

After what seems to be eternity, the prison walls began to cave in and celestial bronze bricks flew in all four direction. I figured that getting knocked out unconscious by a bunch of flying bricks wouldn't really help my case; so once again, my sword came to my rescue and deflected the unusual attackers.

Mythological monsters? No problem! Avenging gods? Bring it on! Mysterious rocks? Don't even get me started on that. A couple of flying rocks seemed to take up a good chunk of my energy. It's been so long since the Titan war, the last time I've been in battle. As I drew in a couple of heavy breaths, the walls rearranged itself into a doorway and two figures slowly walked in. A tall slender women dressed in black silk led the way and a young teenage boy slowly followed her into the dark room. I recognized the young women at once. She was do doubt Lady Hera, Goddess of marriage and um, my father's sister. The boy, I wasn't sure, but he radiates power like only an immortal.

"Ah, Perseus Jackson, what a pleasant surprise," the goddess addressed me and turned to the young boy standing behind her. "Jason, my dear, you have done exceptionally well. Although you failed to bring the others, this one will do."

"My Lady Hera, long time no see," I responded casually. There is no way that Hera was here to free me, and I bet that with all the gold on Olympus. Although I had made several immortal enemies in the past, Hera's priority is not high on the list. Of all the angry gods on Olympus, why her? I silently pray to the gods- minus Hera, for a good opportunity to escape. What in Poseidon's name is going on? I know the gods can be cruel but locking me (the hero of Olympus and Poseidon's only demi-god child) in a cellar full of rats is an insult to my abilities.

Despite my "good attitude", Hera ignored me point blank and focused her attention on Jason once more. "Well my boy, don't just stand here, you know the drill; finish him off." The goddess instructed him with held back anger.

I drew my sword. "Wait, what? Why in Zeus's name-"

For the goddess of motherhood and marriage, maneuvering a demi-god like this is considered pretty low.

Hera sighed, "For almost 4 thousand years, the gods have used you Heroes like a stepping stone. And you, Perseus Jackson, are the jewel of their mighty collection, their most important weapon. Control you and the rest of the pieces fall directly into place. Did you really think that my father, the Titan Lord of time lost the war to a handful of amateur heroes? He is slowly getting stronger and I will help him regain power!"

My years of experience at Camp stopped me from doing a double take. A drew a deep breath and put on my most convincing expression. "Lady Hera, don't let Kronos manipulate you. Don't make the same mistake as Luke did. It's not too late yet, you can still do the right thing here."

"Mistake? What do you know about mistakes? For thousands of years I have kept the Olympians together, assisted the council and protected the family. And what do I get in return? Nothing! No worshipper, no thank-you card, no appreciation what-so-ever. In return for my assistance, my father Kronos has offers me unlimited power and riches." Hera spoke with clenched teeth and her eyes were flared with anger.

You want anger? Two can play at this game.

"But Lady Hera, you already have power. You are a goddess. What more do you want?"

"I only want respect and dignity from my own family. Is that too much to ask? You see Jackson, there's a new Golden age coming and you won't be a part of it." She looked toward Jason, "Do it now."

I woke up drenched in cold sweat with a snoring Cyclops on the other side of the room.


	2. Camp Drama

**Camp Drama**

I yawned, rubbed my heavy eyelids and looked around the room. The Poseidon cabin looked as messy as ever. Pieces of celestial bronze were scattered on the floor and old photographs lay forgotten on my night-table. I traced the dark circle under my sea green eyes and thought back to the Titan war. I could have lain under the covers all day if it wasn't for Annabeth; she always made me so content.

"Rise and shine seaweed brain!" Annabeth said softly as she pulled back the ocean blue curtains. A small ray of sunlight touched her silky blonde hair and shone brighter than a thousand bolts of lightning. The children of Athena were always so neat and tidy; typical perfectionists. I smiled weakly and all my troubles seemed to disappear.

"What's up wise girl?" I joked; it's nice that some things never change. "A little bird flew by and told me that today was somebody's sweet seventeen." I teased.

"Oh my gods Percy, you remembered!" Annabeth looked back at me in astonishment.

"Don't acts so surprised Annabeth; I've known you for five years." I rolled my eyes.

"What's everybody waiting for? Let's go get Annabeth's present!" Tyson yelled excitedly. For a six foot Cyclops, Tyson was only 8 in human years; an eight year old who's experienced more pain than everyone deserves in a lifetime.

I took Annabeth by the arm and dragged her all the way to the armory. Tyson stopped us at the entrance and I tied a blindfold over Annabeth's eyes. Slowly, we lead her deeper into the forges, avoiding all the swords and shields left on the cold marble floor. It took us a while for our ADHD brains to find the small silver box we hid the other day. I pulled back Annabeth's blindfold and watch in anticipation as she finally opened her eyes.

As carefully as possible, Annabeth ripped through the silver wrappings and lifted up the top of an old fashioned jewellery box. Tears swan in her eyes as she opened the celestial bronze owl locket and saw the tiny photographs of Luke, Thalia, Grover, Tyson, herself and last but not least, me.

"Percy, Tyson, I don't know what to say." Droplets of joyful tears fell like sea pearls from her cheek.

"Gods Annabeth, it's only a locket!" I whispered as she gave Tyson and me both monster-like hugs. Then I finally realized why Annabeth's taking this so seriously. She ran away from home since she was seven years old; camp was the only place she could call home. No wonder she's in tears, the only people who actually care about her were us half-bloods.

I was still debating whether not to tell Annabeth about my disturbing dream when Grover suddenly barged into my cabin with all four hooves shaking in fear.

"Grover; dude, breath!" I said in surprise and he leaned against my doorway.

"Per-Percy, Clarisse, she-she's back." Grover said between large breathes of air.

My face fell, that was indeed bad news. It was only like what? The Fourth? She only been gone for three days and this happens.

"Where is she?" I asked urgently?

"She's in the big house; talking to Chiron." Grove said as he clinger to his lungs.

As a bolted toward the door, Grover grabbed my arm in protest. "Wait for me man, I'm coming with you."

"No offense men but you're in no shape for such a long walk. Rest, catch your breath and I'll talk to you later."

I ran as fast as I could toward the Big House, Riptide held firmly in my right hand. You never know what's gonna try and get you in the mythological world. We still had a couple of monsters on the run somewhere in the forest from Luke's camp attack two years ago.

"Oh my gods, Clarisse are you okay?" I asked as I stared at the muscular brunette.

"What are you doing here punk?" She greeted me and continued to treat her shoulder wound.

I looked around the room, Chiron, Annabeth, and almost every cabin leader was present. Annabeth looked at Clarisse with worried eyes and Chiron clicked his hooves impatiently.

"Clarisse, there's no point blaming yourself for something you couldn't even control." Annabeth comforted. The rest of the campers nodded their heads in agreement.

"What do you know owl head? You're godly parent doesn't hate you or tries to kills you! You're practically her pride and joy!" Clarisse yelled in frustration and threw her sword across the room; it missed Travis by less than an inch.


	3. The Greeks vs The Romans

**The Greeks vs. the Romans**

"Umm, am I interruption something?" I could feel the colour rising up to my cheeks, my face blushing furiously. In all my years at Camp, no one, and believe me when I say no one, has **ever **shaken up Clarisse this bad. Whoever did this sure has a lot talent!

Annabeth looked at me critically and motioned for me to go outside with her. Well, the truth is, she practically dragged me outside.

"Are you out of your mind seaweed brain?" She looked at me with those hard grey eyes. "Percy, I know that you're not a fan of Clarisse, but under the circumstances could you please cut her some slack and try not to act stupid for once?"

"Umm, just so you know, I have no idea what's going on," I said dumbfounded and gave her my best "I'm so sorry, this will never happen again" look.

"Wait, what? Grover didn't explain things to you?" Her expression was between one of Medusa's statuses and an angry goddess.

"Nope, not at all, didn't happen." I shook my head viciously. "In fact, when Grover summoned me, he wasn't in the right shape to do anything except breathe."

"Oh my gods, I'm so sorry Percy!" Annabeth practically scream as she lunged and gave me a rib-cracking hug. I could've died from loss of oxygen if it wasn't for a wood nymph who coughed nervously behind us. Well, that seemed to do the trick, for Annabeth quickly released me from her clutches and blushed feverishly.

I anxiously kicked a small pebble to pass the moment and asked shyly, "So umm, what happened with Clarisse?"

Annabeth sighed and leaned against the great oak tree as if she knew a terrible, world-ending secret. "Percy, are you familiar with the gods' roman forms?"

"You mean like Zeus-Jupiter, Poseidon-Neptune that kind of thing?" I answered her frowning.

She nodded sadly. "Every thousand years or so, the gods, both major and minor are given a chance to choose between their Roman and Greek forms. Although the gods can take on whatever appearance as they wish, this opportunity is only made available during a total solar eclipse covering the sky, sea and land to represent equal power between the three eldest gods."

"What does this have to do with Clarisse?" I ask suddenly feeling uneasy.

"Ugh, do you always have to be so impatient and ruin the moment? I'm getting to the point!" Annabeth gave me a murderous stare and for a moment, she looked just like her mother Athena, goddess of wisdom and battle.

"Oh, sorry." I replied in a small voice, all of a sudden feeling like a two year old who's made the world's largest mistake.

"As I was saying, a total solar eclipse has proven to be a dangerous times for the Olympians. He who has the ability to steal each magic item form all 14 Olympians, including Hades and Hestia, would have the power to destroy Olympus."

"Come on Annabeth; the power to destroy Olympus, again? Didn't we just save it from ultimate doom last summer? Don't tell me the gods were idiotic enough to allow-" Before I could finish my distasteful remark, thunder rumbled furiously in the sky. I guess Zeus didn't like being described as an idiot.

Annabeth nodded sadly, "When Dionysus suddenly left camp on an 'urgent meeting', Chiron suspected as well. That's why he sent Clarisse on a quest to find out the truth. Rachel, our new oracle told Clarisse to travel west and consult with Ares, hoping that his thick-headedness would provide us with some new leads. "

"Let me guess, Ares saw through Clarisse's plan so he attacked her to overcome the shame of losing his magic item?" Although Ares is not the most merciful god on Olympus, attempting to murder your favorite daughter for the kill was a bit below his godly level.

"Ares got mad at Clarisse for poking into his business when she was only trying to help. On the other hand, Olympus is destined to fall so you can't really blame the gods for acting like jerks." The sky flashed angrily with dangerous lightning after Annabeth's defensive remarks.

"If you were paying attention, those words were acting to your favour!" Annabeth quickly raised her head and angrily argued with the Lord of the skies. I tried my best to pull her away before the Zeus blasted her to a million pieces.

"Umm Annabeth, arguing with the most powerful Olympian isn't really the best idea of all times." She looked as if she wanted to tear me apart but she only nodded in agreement. "So when is the world gonna fall?" I was kinda hoping for a couple months' time to locate the thief but of course, when has my luck brought us any good?

"The 21st; as in this month, which only leaves us 17 days to return all the magic items before all hope is lost." Annabeth responded miserably, her mind momentarily lost into the forest.


	4. The Great Prophecy

**The Great Prophecy **

I paced across the cold marble floor nervously with my ADHD brain racing. I've just contracted Rachel Elizabeth Dare (a.k.a. our new mortal oracle) through Irish message, urging her to get here in one piece as quickly as possible. To be honest, I'm actually kinda surprised that Chiron kept Rachel in the dark for so long regarding such an enormous issue. I mean, the oracle is like the 'bread and butter' for us demi-gods. Without Rachel, there is like no quests, no demi-god involvement, and no saving-the-world opportunities at all! Well, you can't blame Chiron for losing his touch during these desperate times. I also have this weird feeling that if the gods lose their seats of power; everything else tied to the Golden age will disappear with them. Just so you know, that also includes their half human-half god children, overweight satyrs and the immortal trainer of heroes (a.k.a. Chiron).

Life as a demi-god is thoroughly abnormal but these couple of years have got to be one the most messed up times in the mythological world. First with the avenging Titan war and now this so-called 'Olympian revolution." My ironic dream earlier this morning was like the gasoline in this aggressive fire, adding to the commotion. Can my life get more complicated?

"Percy, my gods, please stop worrying like that." Annabeth walked into my cabin and patted me sympathetically on the shoulders. "You're making everybody nervous."

I sighed, "Annabeth, you're probably gonna think that I'm crazy but I think I know who's behind this theft." Before Annabeth could even respond, Rachel ran into my cabin and gave me the biggest welcoming hug ever. Thankfully, before Rachel could permanently damage my respiratory system, Annabeth gave her a questioning look and Rachel finally let go of me. I tried my best to keep the choking to a minimum.

"Come on seaweed brain, Thalia and the hunters are already here. We don't want them to get too impatient and start attacking the campers." Annabeth said coldly and left without even acknowledging Rachel's existence.

"Let's go Rachel; I have a feeling that you're gonna be here for a long time so you might as well get comfortable." Rachel nodded and together, we head off toward the big house.

We were greeted by a couple of nervous campers, a frustrated hunter and an angry Annabeth.

"Well, what are we waiting for, tell us what you know." Thalia nodded at Rachel and gestured for me to sit with the other head counselors.

Rachel looked around uncomfortably; she was once again, the one and only mortal in the room. She took a deep breath, coughed self-consciously and began telling her side of the story.

"Two days ago, the spirit of Delphi spoke to me about an Olympus crisis, I take this is why we're here. 12 magic items were stolen from the Olympians including Lord Hade during his 3589th birthday celebration on mount Olympus."

"Wait a sec; shouldn't there 14 magic items in total including Hades and Hestia?" Conner Stoll interrupted in a matter-of-factly tone. When it comes to thieving, a son of Hermes in considered an experienced professional.

"That's what I was wondering about." Rachel responded stressfully. "Delphi said that Hestia didn't even attend the celebration because of some old grudge she has against Hades two thousand years ago. Queen Hera was the only one who managed to protect her magic item, the Diadem. Well to be fair, it was kinda impossible to steal since Hera wore it on her head the whole time. The rest of the Olympians suspect Hera was the culprit but no one dares to bring in up in fear of offending Zeus."

"But the gods are forbidden to steal another's magic item directly which means she must have gotten a hero to do the dirty job for her." Drew, the new Aphrodite head counselor pitched in.

"The thing is, Hera doesn't even have any demi-god children that we who of, so who in the right mind who do something so dangerous for her?" Annabeth looked pained; she was probably thinking about Luke again.

"Umm guys, I think you hang on to your seats and keep the gossiping to a minimum." I began before everyone could start accusing each other and turn this whole place upside down. "Last night, I had this weird dream that I was locked up in Hera's cellar somewhere at the heart of mount Olympus. Hera mentioned something about helping Kronos avenge the gods in return for unlimited respect and power. And just so you know, there was also this confused half-blood standing behind her, acting under her command."

"Percy, do you know the name of that demi-god?" Thalia asked tensely, her face turning pale.

"Umm, I think his name was Jason or something." My eyebrows were scrunched up in frustration as I tried to remember his full name, but before my memory could kick in, the sound of a fallen bow-and-arrow filled the room.

"Perseus Jackson, you did not just say Jason Grace." Thalia yelled in agony and charged at me with Ageis and a celestial bronze blade. Thankfully Chiron stopped her before I got sliced into a thousand pieces.

"Gods Thalia, what is going on?" I asked at once after my brain has finished processing the current situation.

"I don't know Percy. I have no idea why I reacted that way; besides, it wasn't even your fault! Gods that was embarrassing." Thalia explained hazily and broke into quiet sobs. "Percy, you don't understand; Jason Grace is my younger brother. Hera took him away from my mother shortly after his birth; heck, he doesn't even know that I exist."

The entire room fell silent and Thalia's helpless tears terminated. Even Chiron was speechless. Eventually, the Stoll brothers stepped up to the plate and tried to comfort the daughter of Zeus.

"Thalia, Travis and I know how you feel. Four years ago, when Luke fell under the curse of Kronos, we thought that Luke was beyond help; instead, he died a hero's death." Conner said quietly and lent Thalia a hand as she got up from the floor.

"Miss Dare, I think it's time for these heroes to hear the next Great Prophecy." Chiron turned to Rachel and gave a stiff little nod.

Rachel sighed and closed her eyes. The room was once again filled with complete silent. For a brief moment there, nothing happened; and then suddenly, an ancient voice spoke through Rachel.

"Hunters and demigods shall join hand in hand as 13 brave heroes travel across the land.

On your quest to find each magic item; the faith of the Golden Age falls under your command.

Set off at once to the remains of Daedalus's labyrinth within camp; but I must warn you beforehand.

Bear in mind your true intentions at heart for almost nothing will go according as planned. "

"Well, that was some great prophecy!" Nico di Angelo squeaked as he broke the drenched silence.


	5. Optimistic pessimist

**Optimistic pessimist **

"Umm, this sounds way better than Percy's last prophecy right? At least it doesn't mention how we're going to die, and besides, thirteen is considered a very lucky number in some cultures." Grover (a.k.a. the Lord of the Wild) said nervous as he furiously attacked various tin-cans.

"I quite agree, and in addition, I think it's high time that we allow the hunters to participate in such a major event." Chiron nodded approvingly and smiled; a smiled that never reached his eyes.

"Wow, thirteen heroes, a pretty dangerously large number. Just imagine all the monsters they would attract!" I spoke my thoughts out loud and instantly fell silent when Annabeth gave me a murderous look.

"Not helping seaweed brain!" Annabeth whispered through clenched teeth. "Since thirteen of us are going, one would logically assume that we send each Olympian a demi-god child of their own, someone they can trust without doubt. However, according to Rachel, only twelve magic items were stolen."

"Use your brains owl-head, are you sure your mum's the goddess of wisdom and battle?" Conner Stoll said sarcastically. "Travis and I are twins, it would make sense that we both go on this quest."

This is pretty much when I started to feel protective. "Hey watch yourself Conner, taunting Annabeth and making her life miserable is my job; go find your own!"

"Gods Percy, someone's feeling a bit over protective." Travis laughed and nudged me on the shoulders.

"Ugh, you people should be ashamed of yourselves! We have much bigger problems at hand and you guys are treating it like a joke." I'm guessing that Thalia regained to her senses and started acting like her old bossy self again. "Unfortunately, my Lady Artemis doesn't have any demi-god children, thus, Phoebe; our best hunter shall go instead."

"But Thalia, you are our lieutenant, Lady Artemis's best representative." Phoebe answered with tremendous discontent. (I'm guess that she has bad history with us half-bloods.)

"Phoebe, although I wish to assist Artemis, I really cannot for I must serve my father Zeus." Thalia sighed, her face full of worry. She was no doubt thinking about her brother Jason again.

"Well, that pretty much settles it. Thalia, Percy and Nico, our most powerful demi-god children of the Big-Three shall lead this quest. Thus, our remaining cabin leaders and Phoebe the hunter shall complete this quest of thirteen; that is unless Clarisse intends to stay behind." Chiron looked anxiously toward the daughter of Ares.

Clarisse has somewhat cooled down since her ah 'little scene' from the Big House. "Although I despise Lord Ares and his cowardly personality, he is inevitably my father and it is within my duty to do everything I can to help him." I gotta admit, although her new arm-sling looked ridiculous, her daughter-of-Ares expression was as hard as celestial bronze, possibly even stronger.

"Well then, now that we're all well on our way, can we please just end this meeting and wash up for dinner? Some of us are kinda hungry here!" Katie, a daughter of Demeter (goddess of the harvest) complained and set everyone into a laughing hysteric.


	6. Secret passage

**Secret passage**

Ever try falling asleep beside a snoring Cyclops? Then trust me when I say that it's not an easy battle to fight. Most of the time, you're just lying there with your blood-shot eyes staring at the ceiling and praying to every god you know hoping that your half-brother would keep it down a little. I was just about to carry my fatigue self down to Zephyros Greek and camp there for the night when an invisible hand shook me gently on the shoulder.

"Ahhhh!" I screamed like a little girl and nervously drew out Riptide. Instead of courageously fighting a monster from the pit of Tartarus, I stood dumbly facing a gorgeous young girl with familiar blonde hair and mysterious grey eyes; but don't you dare tell her I said that.

"Oh my gods Percy, you should've seen the look on your face!" Annabeth giggled and rolled her eyes sarcastically as she took off her magic Yankee cap. Ugh, so much for the ultimate hero of Olympus.

"Gods, Annabeth, you have got to stop doing that!" I sighed and whispered with relief; there was no point trying to be mad at Annabeth, you'll just end up liking her even more.

"Percy, I'm really worried about you; can we please talk?" Annabeth whispered and gave me her most convincing plead. Obviously, it worked on me; I mean, how could you say no to Annabeth of all people?

Under the faint moonlight, I gazed at Tyson's snoring silhouette and sighed. "Come on Annabeth; let's go elsewhere, I don't want to wake up the big guy, he needs all the sleep he can get." I took her by the hand and led her outside my cabin. Suddenly, my ADHD brain had a wonderful idea, a dangerously brilliant idea.

"Annabeth, you wanna go to fireworks beach? We can talk there and besides, the water is beautiful this time of the year" I blurted out before I could control my deficit mouth. Silena and Beckendorf used to go there before, before they, ah you know what.

"Oh my gods seaweed brain, I thought you'd never ask!" Annabeth laughed and ran off towards the river. Girls these days, one minute they're trying to slice your head off and the next, it was as if it never happened. I sighed and ran off after her. Suddenly, the dark night was filled with a soft gasp that teared through my heart. I ran faster and faster into the dark forest and to my dismay, found Annabeth lying on the cold earth.

"Annabeth, are you okay, are you hurt, gods what happened?" I drew out Riptide and shielded Annabeth from the mysterious enemy.

"It's alright Percy; I only tripped over a pinecone you know, nothing to fret about." Annabeth said lightly and quickly covered up her leg wound. Slowly, she tried to get up, only to fully collapse against a pine tree.

"Annabeth dear, we're never gonna make it to fireworks beach like this. You're badly injured but why won't you just admit that you need help?" I said quietly and slowly began to lift her up.

"Gods Percy, what are you doing?" Annabeth said softy and blushed, hopefully, she was enjoying this.

"I plan on taking a faster and much safer route." I whispered and dived head first into the freeing water with Annabeth in my arms.

I hoped my father's protection covered little things like breathing and warmth for Annabeth. To be honest, I was really hoping to make a good impression after five years of plain stupidity. Luckily, Annabeth wasn't showing any signs of deep-water drowning; so far, I was making good progress.

The icy cold water was one of the few things that could clear my dyslexia mind during these hard times; after all, the ocean is my home turf. I concentrated will all my heart for the water to heal Annabeth's leg wound and to my surprise, they began to work their magic on Annabeth as if she was a daughter of Poseidon. I made a temporary note to myself to send Poseidon a father's day present next year in appreciation for his generous assistance tonight.

Several minutes later, a feeling inside my head told me that we just arrived at the outskirts of Fireworks Beach. I quickly forced the lake currents to slow down as we made a stop for our destination. As I carefully lifted Annabeth out of the waters, I found to my greatest pleasure that Annabeth's clothes were as dry as mine.

"Well, not a bad way to travel huh?" I said nervous as I turned to the smiling girl. Thankfully, she didn't scream like Grover did last time I took him out for a spin.

"Percy, being a half-blood really sucks sometime but I guess it was worth it because it brought me to you!" Annabeth said happily and hugged me giddily.

"First things first Annabeth, let's discuss why we're here." I lied down on the sandy beaches and yelp in surprise as a small crab began to tackle my dark hair.

"Percy, do you find this new prophecy even the slightest bit peculiar?" Annabeth sighed and began to untangle her messy blonde hair. "For nearly thousand years, there has never ever been a time when so many half-bloods were permitted to participate in a single prophecy."

"Wait a minute Annabeth, the more the better right?" There I go with my famous 'wait-a-minute' introduction again.

"Ugh seaweed brain, don't you understand, in all of ancient Greek history, only three heroes are allowed to return back to camp alive. That means that ten of us are going to die out there and with your bad luck, you'll probably fall into some trap within the first ten minutes." Annabeth yelled helplessly and broke into tearful sobs.

Suddenly, I put my arms around her shoulder and said dumbly, "It alright wise girl, there's a first in everything."


	7. Not so secret anymore

**Not so secret anymore**

Firework beach was surprisingly quiet tonight. I mean, I'd expected the wood nymphs to party their leaves off before the world ended in seventeen days, but I guess Dionysus took the party mood with him after he disappeared this morning but trust me; none of us really mined his absence from our lives. Anyways, Annabeth and I were kinda just staring into the vast sea before the daughter of Zeus showed up and scared the Hades out of us.

"Well, well, well…what do we have here?" Thalia said with a smirk as her electrifying blue eyes shone in the dark.

"Oh gods, we better make a run for it," Annabeth whispered to my ears before saying to Thalia, "couldn't sleep either?"

"Annabeth, don't think I'm unaware of what's going on between Percy and you. I mean, I'm no daughter of Athena and I may have been a tree for a couple years, but I'm not that clueless." Thalia laughed, sat down on the wet sand and turned her attention to me. "If the world were to end on the 21st then you, Perseus Jackson, better make this the best 17 days Annabeth will ever have. You do the Luke Castellan and you'll have to deal with me for eternity in the Underworld."

"Whoa cuz, what's with all the anger? So Annabeth gets the "you think you're so smart" talk and I get the death threat?" I smiled and said, "The world is never fair is it?"

Thalia sighed and said "I wish we can all be normal teenagers for a change but I guess powerful parents come with a heavy price." She dug her fingers into the sand and yelled into the pitch black sky. "Ugh, as if killing mom with your stupidity wasn't enough, you just had to drag Jason into this messed up world." The words have barely escaped from her mouth before the sky flashed dangerous with lightning and rain fell upon us. RAIN. If rain had managed to penetrate the boundaries of Camp, then Zeus must be pretty mad.

"Zeus, is that all you can do? Show your anger to your own child who risks her life to help save your existence only because you're family? Why is it that I never see **you** fight my wars and battles?" Thalia screamed as tears swarm in her eyes.

The rain disappeared and the immortal girl ran off into the darkness.

"Percy, we have to stop her before she does something even more stupid. Ugh, why can't the children of the Big Three just think for a moment before they decide to give all of us a heart attack?" Annabeth jumped up and ran towards the cabins.

"Whoa wise girl, where are you going?" Although I was slightly offending at being called dangerously impulsive, I seriously do not need another catastrophe.

"To find Thalia, who obviously went to consult Chiron," and before I had a chance to say my famous "wait a minute", Annabeth took off leaving me standing alone in the shadows…and she says I'm imprudent…

It took a while to catch up to the daughter of wisdom despite her slightly hurt ankle but thankfully, she didn't trip over another pinecone. Anyways, like she predicted, Thalia was at the Big House and I have to admit, befriending the daughter of wisdom six years ago was not such a bad idea after all.

"Gods, Annabeth and Percy, can't you just leave me along for a while?" Thalia said as she gave us another one of her deadly stares.

"Thalia, just because you've spent a couple years with the Hunters doesn't mean we're not your friends anymore and that we don't understand what you're feeling right now. How many times have we died through and through together? Don't you trust us at all?" Annabeth said as her grey eye reached the blue.

"Then what am I thinking?" Thalia eyes dropped to the ground as her entire being began to shake.

"Look, Thalia, being a demi-god is hard but in the end, it's worth the while. Jason may be your brother but his actions shouldn't affect the righteousness of yours. For all we know, some other evil overlord could be controlling him the same way Kronos overpowered Luke. Besides, this is all guesswork; Jason probably had nothing to do with the major thief so pull yourself together," said Annabeth.

"Ugh, I suppose you're right, but that doesn't explain why the prophecy makes absolutely no sense. Rachel said that the magic items are hidden in Daedalus's labyrinth but his death destroyed the creation years ago and besides, there's no way that there's an entrance in Camp anymore. We spent months looking for it after the Titan War and found nothing." Thalia said as she gazed across the room with her puffy eyes.

"Umm, about that, I gave it a bit a thought and there might be a chance that parts of the labyrinth may still exist. I mean, it took nearly two thousand years for it to expand over Greece and later the United States, so it could take another two thousand years for it to completely disappear." As I blabbed on about my possible theory, the room was complete silent so I continued to blab on. "Well, since the labyrinth first started out from major areas of Greek culture hence Mt. Olympus and later minor areas such as Auntie Em's garden, it will probably vanish in the same order starting with the Underworld and later our own Camp."

"It's been nearly three years since Daedalus's death so you think it's time the labyrinth started to disappear underneath Camp?" Annabeth said as she broke the dreaded silence.

"But we've already checked everywhere we could on land and underwater." Thalia said as the worry and desperateness returned into her voice.

"Well, there is a place we haven't checked…" I said mysteriously.

"Then tell us seaweed brain, if you haven't noticed, we are on the verge of a time sensitive quest." Annabeth said as her grey eyes bore into mine which by the way, is beyond cute.

"Two years ago, when we were playing capture the flag, do you remember when Beckendorf was captured by Myrmekes?" I said quietly, praying the daughter of Athena wouldn't recall the place, I mean; no one really wants to risk being eaten by a bunch of giant Greek fire ants, again.

"Wait, you mean that ant hill filled with weapons and magic weapons? That place where we found Festus, the bronze dragon? " Annabeth said as she looked at me in bewilderment. Great, I just knew my luck wouldn't hold.

"It's too dangerous go in to simply check for an entrance, but as they say, desperate times call for desperate measures." Chiron, the immortal Captain sunshine couldn't have ended the conversation off with a happier note.


	8. Journey of a thousand miles

**The journey of a thousand miles begin with the first step **

"Hunter, you know the drill, no boys and absolutely no parties while I'm gone." Thalia said melancholy as she gazed upon the group of teenage girls dressed in complete silver.

"Ugh, I still can't believe that punk Drew is coming with us on the quest. I mean what's she gonna do, charmspeak the monsters into killing each other?" Clarisse La Rue sighed and pierced her electrical spear Maimer into the head of a straw dummy used for sword fighting. "I miss Silena; she made Aphrodite somewhat worth worshipping."

"You're lucky Aphrodite's magic love belt got stolen hon, otherwise, you'll be spending the rest of your miserable life, loveless with your spear Lamer." Drew entered the armory with her Gucci bag on one hand and her dagger on the other.

"You didn't!" Clarisse broke out in anger as she stormed over to strangle Drew with her bare hands. It took half a dozen campers to pin Clarisse to the ground before she killed Drew and destroyed whatever little chance we had of completing the quest.

"Whoa Clarisse calm down, you're better than that, I know." Chris said quietly as she helped Clarisse get up from the ground. If it wasn't for Chris, someone probably would've had to stay in the infirmary for quite a while.

"Guys come on. We haven't even left Camp yet and we're already fighting against each other. What better are we from the bickering Gods themselves?" I said loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Percy's right. I mean, we haven't even found the entrance to Daedalus's labyrinth and we only have sixteen days left before the world falls." Annabeth said as she came to my defense.

"So, what's the plan Annabeth?" Nico muttered as he twirled his stygian iron sword around. The son of Death was definitely looking forward for the chance of proving his worth to Hades.

"We start first by looking for the entrance which Percy thinks is located in the Ant hill at the West of Camp. After we that, finding the magic items and staying alive would be our priority," said Annabeth.

"Spoken like a true daughter of Athena," Will Solace said sarcastically.

"This place brings back seriously bad memories." I said to Annabeth hoping that she remembered the whole story with Silena, Beckendorf and the bronze dragon. Believe me, those we not pleasant times. I mean you'd expect the Myrmekes to be harmless creatures minding their own business but no, they just had to bite poison and spray acid.

"Shhh be quiet seaweed brain, do you really want to become breakfast for a couple hundred overweighed ants that seriously need to go on a diet?" Annabeth whispered and gave me her best will-you-be-quiet stare.

"Fine Wise-girl, but how is Zeus's name are we gonna get inside the Ant hill before these fat beasts attack and kill us?" I ask.

"Leave that to me Percy. I know just what will do the trick." Jack Mason grinned and opened his orange man satchel. "I'm in the mood for some explosive motor oil grenades."

"Wait a minute, what?" I asked in disbelief as Jake took out four giant mother-of-all grenades.

"Oh, you don't know, Myrmekes hate machine oil. Ever since Fetus attacked their territory with his ah leaky gears, I'm hoping the ants are holding a grudge over some good old fashion motor oil with tabasco sauce." Jake did his crazy grin and handed me a grenade. He should've warned me about the weight because I did not expect to throw something that weighed almost as much as Tyson.

"Just remember, once you pull the trigger, you got thirty seconds to get rid of it before it blows up in your face. We're hoping the smell will drive the all Myrmekes outside while we sneak into another entrance and find the labyrinth. And if this is your first quest, just remember, don't get too nervous, trip over your feet and land on your face because we might be too busy running for our lives to help you." Jake joked and passed off the remaining grenades to Annabeth, Thalia and Nico.

"Thanks Jake, we totally feel more confident" Katie rolled her eyes and punched him on the shoulders.

"On the count on three, release the grenades. One, two, three!" The daughter of Zeus bellowed. Thankfully, the entrance of the Ant fill was big enough so the four of us made a silent agreement to roll the grenades rather than to toss it in. I mean, none of us really has enough strength to throw something that weighed almost as much as the sky, and believe me, I know.

We all ducked for cover before the grenade detonated; at least I duck for cover as the others stared at me weirdly. I was expecting some major explosion that would below the Olympus off the Empire States building but the only thing I heard was a weak and pathetic thud.

"Ugh, Percy, what were you expecting? If the grenade blasted like a volcano, all the motor oil would stick to the walls and would go to waste. If it leaked out slowly, it would cover more surface area and we wouldn't get blasted into a million pieces by the impact of the explosion." Thalia shook her head in disapproval.

"Besides, the Myrmekes can communicate with each other in a matter of seconds so if one notices the motor oil, it'll probably warn the others." Annabeth reassured.

We barely had time to make it to the east entrance of the hill before the Myrmekes rapidly escaped through the west entrance. They were exact as I remembered, only bigger and uglier.

"Guys hurry up, more running less staring." Nico yelled and bolted for the entrance.

After that, things got somewhat less chaotic. We found the mark of Daedalus after a few moments of panic but before we could unlock the mysteries of the labyrinth, something else even more peculiar caught our eyes.


End file.
